Ski Press World Inc. - Index

Ski Press World Inc. - SIA Day 3 - Index

top trends/fashion
ON THE APPAREL BANDWAGON
In the past, there were distinct lines between clothing manufacturers and ski
companies. Now those lines have blurred. Krista Crabtree looks at why four
top-selling ski brands have joined the soft goods industry.
Branding is everything. Think about the recognizable trademarks
you see every day. You need only view the golden
arches for a split second to understand immediately that
it means McDonalds. Logos have become second nature
in our consumer-driven culture and we hardly think about
them, though we’re processing them constantly. The new
millennium has brought with it an explosion of outdoor
sports companies crossing over into other markets — and
skiing is no exception. Rossignol, Salomon, Nordica and
Volkl all sell their own line of outdoor apparel. But can they
compete with other well-established apparel companies?
“We defi nitely use the strength of the Volkl brand name to
help push our goods,” said Nora Stowell, division manager
for Volkl Performance Wear. “Our clothing is unique, very
technical, mid-high end, and tied to the Volkl story, but
we all realize that if it was not for the chevron logo on the
chest we probably would not be selling as much.”
In some instances, the apparel divisions have eclipsed the
sales of hard goods. “When it comes to ensure brand visibility,
you know that the fi rst brand support is the product,”
said Jean-Yves Couput, global sports marketing director
for Salomon. “And in that domain, apparel is king. When
we sell 500,000 pairs of skis, we sell 3 million pairs of footwear
and 4 million pieces of apparel — 14 times more of
a product category that you’re supposed to use and wear
more often.”
HISTORY
In the scheme of things, companies that sell both apparel
and hard goods are a relatively new occurrence. Rossignol,
the veteran of the group, offered its fi rst winter clothing
collection in Europe during the winter of 1998-1999.
Volkl started selling clothing internationally in 2000, and
launched their line in the US in 2004-05. Salomon’s fi rst
collection of apparel was released in the fall of 2001. Nordica,
the youngster of the group, is in the second year of
manufacturing after launching their apparel line in 2006.
Most companies, such as Volkl, got into the business to
increase awareness in their hard goods equipment. “Having
a clothing line is a natural evolution for a hard goods company
in order to gain brand exposure, increase market share
and grow revenues,” said Stowell. Salomon jumped in feet
fi rst to create a stand-alone division — even acquiring other
well-known apparel companies.
“To understand quicker and apply faster the success recipes,
we bought Bonfi re and Arc’teryx, both referential brands in
the apparel business. Thanks to these strategic acquisitions,
we learned faster than by ourselves and quickly reached a
critical size,” said Couput.
Conversely, Rossignol was bought by a company with a
well-established name in the apparel industry. “Quiksilver
acquired the Rossignol group in 2005 because the two
companies had similar values, a 100-year heritage, and an
incredible consumer following. Another part of that equation
was to gain a bigger share in the outdoor market by
24 SNOWPRESS DAY 3 skipressworld.com/snowpress
gaining a stronger foothold in the mountain segment and
clothing for all seasons,” said France Lessard, marketing
manager for Rossignol soft goods.
RAISON D’ÊTRE
Salomon, Nordica, Volkl and Rossignol all produce more
than just skis. Since they were already designing, manufacturing,
selling and using nearly every tool to enjoy winter
sports, it’s not hard to deduce that apparel used during
winter activities would be a logical next step. “Nordica
realized that its natural brand extension would be into outerwear,”
said Willy Booker, marketing director for Nordica.
“We have employees and promoters all over the world who
need to wear winter clothing; it seemed logical to make
this step from a pure ‘need-based’ standpoint.”
Already producing skis, boots and boards, Rossignol ran out
of other options for growth. “We realized that we were nearing
market shares in many of our product categories that
would limit our growth in the future so clothing offered us a
new expansion opportunity,” said Lessard. “We started with
winter clothing because we already had a very reco gnizable
brand, a consumer following, and an existing dealer base.
In the spring of 2000, we offered our fi rst summer casual
wear line in Europe to further our opportunity for growth
and also allow us to keep the brand in front of the consumer
on a year-around basis.” Salomon’s addition of
an apparel line had more earthly roots. “When you are
just a hard goods company, and especially when you are
just a winter sports company, you’re very much exposed
to external threats, amongst them the weather conditions.
Two mild winters can strongly affect the profi tability
of your company. It was natural for Salomon to
attack the summer outdoor market to balance that
level of risks and to ensure the company a better
profi tability. For what concerns winter sports apparel,
it was quite a natural extension of our alpine sports
know-how.”— KRISTA CRABTREE
Rossignol
Nordica
Rossignol
VOLVO — OFFICIAL CAR OF
Völkl
Salomon